This invention relates generally to the field of anesthesia masks. More, particularly, this invention relates to an anesthesia mask that allows mask ventilation during anesthesia and sedation without using the anesthetist's hands.
During the surgery a patient is usually placed under anesthesia. The most common delivery system consists of the canisters containing the anesthesia gases and oxygen, a system of regulating the gas flow and the patient's breathing, and a device ensuring the potency of the patient's airway for breathing, oxygenation and the delivery of the anesthetic gas mixture. A mask as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is one of the devices used for the airway instrumentation during the surgery and anesthesia.
The use of the mask ventilation requires the constant contact of the anesthetist's hands with the patient, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to hold the mask 5 in place in order to ensure the potency of the airway. Otherwise a very dangerous complication known as the airway obstruction may occur. Today in the majority of cases the use of the commercially available mask straps and/or the head harness still requires the anesthetist to hold and maneuver the mask continually during the surgery.
The reason the anesthetist needs to perform continuous mask holding and maneuvering is the human anatomy and physiology. When muscles of the jaw, tongue and upper airway relax due to sedatives and/or muscle relaxants given to the patient for sedation and/or anesthesia, the upper airway (mouth, pharynx, larynx) may become partially obstructed and possibly completely closed, as shown in FIG. 3 wherein when the jaw 30 of the patient drops and the tongue 10 obstructs the airway 20 resulting in snoring (partial obstruction) or apnea (complete inability for oxygen to pass via the upper airway into the lungs). To avoid partial and/or complete obstruction the anesthetist has to perform a maneuver called the “jaw thrust” maneuver. The “jaw thrust” maneuver, illustrated in FIG. 4, is done with one hand 10 moving the jaw 30 up and forward to move the tongue 10 so that the airway 20 is opened. The “jaw thrust” is performed while holding a mask over the patient's mouth and nose to deliver oxygen.
The necessity to hold the mask 5 over the patient's face almost constantly and the inability to perform other tasks during the surgery and anesthesia have led to a significant loss of popularity of the mask anesthetics and the increased use of other airway devices, in some cases more invasive and with more potential side effects and complications.
The present invention is intended to address the problem of the continuous mask holding and to free the hands of the anesthetist for other tasks required during the operation.